PREPS: Oceanside moves football opener amid construction delays

Construction delays on Oceanside High's new football stadium
have forced the Pirates to move their highly anticipated season
opener against a fellow state champion to Orange County, a school
official said Tuesday.

Defending state Division I champion Oceanside was to unveil its
renovated facility for its Sept. 2 opener against defending
Division II champion Anaheim Servite. Instead, the game will be
played at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Oceanside athletic
director Dave Barrett said.

The two schools agreed to a two-year deal to play each other in
2010 and 2011, with Oceanside to host the 2010 game and Servite
hosting in 2011. The change means Oceanside will instead host in
2011.

"We know all about construction delays because of all the
renovation work we've had done to our campus in the last few
years,'' Barrett said. "When you're going through it, it's not an
easy thing to laugh about.''

Barrett said the Pirates considered moving the game to nearby El
Camino or Carlsbad but couldn't reach a deal to play the Thursday
night game at either school. Both El Camino and Carlsbad also plan
to debut renovated stadiums this fall.

"El Camino and Carlsbad weren't too hip to the idea of someone
else playing the first home game in their new stadiums, even on a
Thursday night," Barrett said.

The game was scheduled for Thursday because Servite plans to
leave for Louisiana -- site of its Week 2 game -- shortly after the
game.

"This leaves us with four home games this year, and we'll make
do,'' Barrett said. "As bad as this is -- moving a marquee matchup
to a different county -- it's not like the challenges Carlsbad
faced with no home field for the past two seasons.''

Bowl game change

The CIF State office announced a change in the selection process
for its state football bowl games that limits participation to
section champions.

The games will be played at the Home Depot Center Dec.
17-18.

Academic champions

Three La Costa Canyon teams were recognized for posting the top
grade-point average in the state in their respective sport by the
CIF State office.

The Mavericks' field hockey (3.81 GPA), gymnastics (3.68) and
boys lacrosse (3.60) teams were among 28 teams statewide recognized
for their academic achievement. Only San Jose Harker School had as
many teams honored as La Costa Canyon.